Simpsons case for improvement

[Breezly]

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/latest/a/26388936/simpsons-case-for-improvement/

 

[illwizard]

Geez I like Simpson as a coach so far. Very level, balanced discussion.

 

[Eaglemaniac]

Yep, I think he knows what needs to be done, hopefully we give him time and the personnel to get the job done.

 

[Keys]

Thanks for posting that link. Very good read - I liked the questions and Simpson gave them proper well thought out responses

Most of what he said marries in it what I've seen this preseason and it put a lot of last season into context. I think we will improve, not necessarily to top 4 level because I doubt the personnel for that to happen are there, but top 8 is definitely an achievable aim, possibly top 6 if things click

 

[jesterwester]

Thanks for posting that link. Very good read - I liked the questions and Simpson gave them proper well thought out responses

Most of what he said marries in it what I've seen this preseason and it put a lot of last season into context. I think we will improve, not necessarily to top 4 level because I doubt the personnel for that to happen are there, but top 8 is definitely an achievable aim, possibly top 6 if things click

That is exactly my expectation of this year, just with better wording and sentence structure.

 

[Double the Fist]

Read the article, I really like Simpson. Was bullish about him comming, kept hearing he has a good 'footy' brain, was a deep thinker etc etc... but, gee, he has come to a powerful club and seems to have been able to take control of everything. Really liking the way he goes about it. *sorry about the cliche*
Impressive individual.

 

[Dark Sharks]

Massive respect for this man.

He was my pick when it came to replacing Worsefold in 2013 and i've got nothing but more admiration for what he's doing right now.

 

[bombard]

Simpson

 

[nameless]

Says and does all the right things.

Let's just hope that his vision is good enough for a premiership, and the cattle can back him up.

 

[SpaceClef]

I like the fact he recognises he's building things from the ground up, not just a complete re-education of the players, but also recognising that the coaching group is completely new too.

I wonder if there has ever been a coaching overhaul of this extent in recent times. As well as the obvious outs in Worsfold, Burns and Walsh, Sumich would have shared a fair chunk of the coaching responsibility with Woosha and so we really are talking about a full overhaul.

It's really interesting how he prioritises fundamentals first and then see tactics as secondary, and in the end of the second paragraph almost hints that perhaps the previous regime saw things the other way around. Certainly after the forward press was worked out by opposition coaches in 2012/2013 we haven't been as successful on the field. Maybe that exposed a lack of basic footy smarts in the last years of Woosha's tenure.

He sounds like a solid leader, so let's hope he's given enough time to deal with the holes in our squad before the board lose their patience.

 

[LongoDongo]

Hard work...lots of it...Simpson will drive the boys harder and harder. We will get there.

 

[SpaceClef]

Further to that comment, it's again interesting to hear him talk about having to re-learn how to connect the midfielders with the forwards.

Presumably the 'bomb-it-inside-50' philosophy was adopted on the back of a broader tactic of locking that ball in. Whether that was adopted because our midfielders weren't very good kicks, because we had a tall forwardline, or because the coaches thought it was the best option, remains to be seen.

But certainly educating the midfield to not instinctively bomb it forward at all costs must be a difficult task, especially when they were not as strong/heavy as they could be. So Simpson inherited a midfield with a combination of a lack of muscle and an instinct to bomb it forward, two things that are being addressed.

I've always thought of Selwood as one of the biggest culprits of blindly bombing it, and so it'll be interesting to see whether Simpson can improve his decision making, or if he will simply fail to fall in line. Priddis seemed to do it less last season. Shuey is guilty of doing it when he's not given space as well.

Whether he can get the best out of our midfield stocks really is the biggest question mark over how good our side can be in the near future.

 

[joeyavalanche]

Couldn't agree more with Simpson on pretty much every answer

 

[Milenko]

he made a very salient point re the 'tall' mids of freo and the 'small' mids of Sydney

actually explained the logic in his reasoning, whereas woosha would have just said "yeah, nah..."

 

[RookiePick]

he made a very salient point re the 'tall' mids of freo and the 'small' mids of Sydney

actually explained the logic in his reasoning, whereas woosha would have just said "yeah, nah..."

I kinda read that as just a further explanation of his "we need to be bigger" type comments during last season. It's a means to an end not the goal and he doesn't want people to misunderstand the context. He seems to have a clear strategy for advancing the playing and coaching group and appears to be a good communicator.

A lot of pressure on Simmo if we miss again I think but I think he seems like an excellent choice so far. I'm backing him.

 

[MIKE85]

Says all the right things, and most of those questions put to him, were the exact things we have all been complaining about for the last few years, so good in that sense, that we get some direct answers to our most glaring issues. Whether any of it actually equates to more wins on field, I guess we'll soon find out.

I really hope, even if we don't make the 8 this year, that we let Simpson have a real crack at it, and not just Turf him out early cause we haven't had instant success. Seems to me like the kind of coach that could stick around for a long time, and could bring us real success, if we are patient, which majority of our supporter base is not (me included)

I also liked the little things he mentioned about players bulking up, not to get bigger than the opposition, but to get back to a level playing field. That says that he see's what Woosh was doing in the last few years was a mistake, and it's set us back a fair bit.

 

[Dark Sharks]

Says all the right things, and most of those questions put to him, were the exact things we have all been complaining about for the last few years, so good in that sense, that we get some direct answers to our most glaring issues. Whether any of it actually equates to more wins on field, I guess we'll soon find out.

I really hope, even if we don't make the 8 this year, that we let Simpson have a real crack at it, and not just Turf him out early cause we haven't had instant success. Seems to me like the kind of coach that could stick around for a long time, and could bring us real success, if we are patient, which majority of our supporter base is not (me included)

I also liked the little things he mentioned about players bulking up, not to get bigger than the opposition, but to get back to a level playing field. That says that he see's what Woosh was doing in the last few years was a mistake, and it's set us back a fair bit.

Even if we don't make the 8 this year, i doubt he'd get turfed out.

New coach, inherited a list of potato's, implemented a new gameplan... it was always going to be 3 seasons before he was seriously under the microscope.

End of season 2016, if we finish lower than 8th, i presume he'd have a case to answer for and he'd be gone. Won't happen though

 

[Truckosaurus]

I like the cut of his jib.